‘Phenomenal’: Son of Portsmouth title winner and ex-Arsenal star goes viral after wondergoal

Paul Merson’s son, Sam, has caught the attention of the footballing community after scoring a remarkable wondergoal for his non-league side Hanworth Villa.

The Villains, who are based in Hounslow, London, play in the Isthmian League South Central Division and on Tuesday welcomed league leaders Farnham Town.

Despite the score ending 1-1 at Rectory Meadow, it was Merson’s opener which has since brought the seventh-tier contest to limelight with his outstanding goal going viral on social media.

In fact, the 29-year-old’s effort was even noticed by Sky Sports, with dad Paul reacting to the goal on Wednesday evening as he sat in the Sky Sports News studio as pundit for Liverpool’s Champions League tie against PSG.

Giving his verdict on the strike, the Pompey title-winner said: ‘Yeah he’s my son. You know what, it’s not because he’s my son, but that’ll take some beating. I don’t see too many goals like that.

‘I mean everything about it, the ball down the line; the run from him - he’s a centre forward - down the channel. His touch, his awareness and to score from there is the all round package.

‘It’s a phenomenal finish. I’m not just saying that because he’s my boy, but you’ll do well to see a better goal than that this season.’

A goal which impressed Pompey title winner Paul Merson

The goal, which has been watched by hundreds of thousands of people on X, formerly Twitter, has seen some compare the first-time volley to his father Paul.

Merson, who featured for the likes of Pompey, Arsenal and Aston Villa during an illustrious career wasn’t shy of an outrageous effort from distance himself.

That included a notable free-kick away to Wolves and a fabulous drilled outside-the-box effort against Wimbledon during his 2002-03 title-winning campaign at Fratton Park.

Those strikes represented two of his 12 goals for the Blues in his sole-season at PO4, where he captained Harry Redknapp’s men as Pompey returned to the Premier League.

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